General Plan of a Park and 
Playground System 



FOR 



NEW LONDON, CONN. 

REPORT TO THE MUNICIPAL ART 
SOCIETY OF NEW LONDON 



By 

JOHN NOLEN 

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT 

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 

1913 



GENERAL PLAN 

OF A 

PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

FOR 

NEW LONDON, CONN. 



JOHN NOLEN 

n 

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



Many things must be carefully prepared, as carefully watched, and persistently 
pushed, by the man who will get any city public into and through a great public 
improvement. Wearied, and worried, and hindered, he must never sleep, never 
be beaten, never desist, and if, by a whole five years of toil, he gets his work on 
far enough to become an interest in itself, and take care of itself, he does well, and 
there may rest. — Horace Bushnell, Hartford, 1869. 



BOSTON 

PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS CO. 
1913 



^v 



' ^ 



MAY 9 1811 



Tfavmntb 

This Report has been Prepared for the Muni- 
cipal Art Society of New London, by a City Planning 
Architect of distinction, and embodies the general con- 
clusions derived from a wide experience and from a two 
years' serious study of the possible and proper develop- 
ment of a park and playground system for New London. 

It is not expected that the comprehensive plan herein 
delineated can be completed in the near future. It is 
realized, moreover, that riper experience may call for 
modifications of these plans and the inclusion of other 
features not mentioned. Our immediate purpose has 
been to inform ourselves and the community as to park 
and playground systems, to get something concrete to 
work to and for, and especially to furnish a guide to our 
Park Commissioners and city government in future 
acquisition of lands for the development of new streets, 
squares, playgrounds, and parks. If the system out- 
lined in this Report should seem too ambitious for New 
London to attempt, a careful perusal of the facts stated 
in the Appendix as to the outcome of similar undertak- 
ings in many other cities of the same class will clearly 



FOREWORD 

indicate that, if managed with skill and foresight, an 
adequate system of parks and playgrounds may be se- 
cured for our city without burdensome investment and 
at little or no ultimate net cost. 

THE MUNICIPAL ART SOCIETY. 



IV 



®lir Nnb of Parks 

It is very poor economy of human life, it is very poor econ- 
omy of money, to postpone their [parks'] purchase any further. 
"Nothing is so costly," 1 it has been well said, "as sickness, disease, 
and vice; nothing so cheap as health and virtue. Whatever 
promotes the former is the worst sort of extravagance; whatever 
fosters the latter is the truest economy." 

And now every argument that has been thus far adduced bears 
with at least equal force upon the question of the country park 
— or the public park proper. In the town squares and boulevards, 
men and women will find fresh air and shade and decent surround- 
ings for their hours of sociability, and safe playgrounds for the 
children, and fresh nurseries for the babies. But there is an im- 
portant element in human nature which the town square cannot 
satisfy. This is that conscious or unconscious sensibility to 
the beauty of the natural icorld which in many men becomes a 
passion, and in almost all men plays a part. 

The providing of what I call country parks to distinguish 
them from squares and the like is as necessary for the preserva- 
tion of the civilization of cities as are sewers or street lights. As 
our towns grow, the spots of remarkable natural beauty, which 
were once as the gems embroidered upon the fair robe of Nature, 
are one by one destroyed to make room for railroads, streets, fac- 
tories, and the rest. The time is coming when it will be hard to 
find within a day's journey of our large cities a single spot capa- 
ble of stirring the soul of man to speak in poetry. Think of what 
this will mean for the race, and start to-morrow to secure for your 
children and your children's children some of those scenes of 
special natural beauty which I trust are still to be found within 
a reasonable distance of this hall. — Charles Eliot. 



Page 

Foreword. Municipal Art Society iii 

I. The Need of Parks for New London 1 

II. Park and Playground Properties 6 

A. City Squares and Small Open Spaces ... 6 

B. School Grounds 9 

C. Playgrounds and Athletic Fields 12 

D. Neighborhood Parks 15 

E. Large Outlying Reservations 22 

F. Inner and Outer Parkway System 23 

Some Examples of the Influence of Public Parks in 

Increasing City Land Values 28 

Influence of Parks and Playgrounds on Suburban 
Development and Land Values from the Point 

of View of a Real Estate Operator 39 



V! 



Hist of plana and Metrics &itbmttt?ft 

Scale Page 

General Plan for a Park and Play- 
ground System 93^ in. to mile Frontispiece 

Sketch showing Treatment of 

Street Intersections 40 ft. " inch 7 

Playground for Nathan Hale Gram- 
mar School 40 ft. " " 10 

Proposed Athletic Field 40 ft. " " 13 

Sketch Plan for Vicinity of Shaw 

Cove 100 ft. " " 16 

Shaw Cove, Existing Conditions . 17 

Shaw Cove, Proposed Treatment . 17 

Sketch Plan for Vicinity of Win- 

throp Cove 100 ft. " kk 20 

Winthrop Cove, Existing Condi- 
tions 21 

Winthrop Cove, Proposed Treat- 
ment 21 

Proposed Parkway Sections . . . 20 in. " foot 24 



vn 



I. ©itr Nrro of Parka for New IGonoon 

New London is an old city, having been founded in 
1646. Its age, its picturesque situation between Long 
Island Sound and the Thames River, and its irregular 
topography have combined to make it one of the most 
interesting cities on the Atlantic coast. It has a dis- 
tinctive appearance and charm. The site of the city 
rises gradually from the Sound and the River to a series 
of hills. From these hilltops one gets commanding views 
of coast and inland scenery which for variety and beauty 
few cities can equal. The harbor of New London is 
the best on Long Island Sound, being three miles wide, 
thirty feet deep, and thoroughly protected against storm 
and ice. The Thames River is famous as the scene of 
the annual boat-race between the crews representing 
Harvard and Yale Universities. 

The great natural beauty of New London, its remark- 
able commercial harbor, and its strategic situation mid- 
way between New York and Boston justify it in plan- 
ning and building confidently for the future. The existing 
plan of the city is very irregular, and the street system 
in the older parts not altogether convenient. Many of 
the main thoroughfares, however, are wide and well 
located. 

Like other small American cities, New London has 
given little attention to the systematic acquisition and 
development of open spaces, parks, and playgrounds. 
Such public grounds as it now owns have come into its 
possession through occasional gifts from its citizens and 

[1] 



NEED OF PARKS FOR NEW LONDON 

somewhat spasmodic, haphazard public action. Never- 
theless, it has a nucleus for a first-class park system. 
The city holds title to a number of good-sized school 
grounds, several very valuable, because centrally situated, 
city squares or open spaces, a beautiful little park of 
forty acres or more on the Thames River, and a half-mile 
strip of ocean beach which, for location, beauty, and use- 
fulness, is not surpassed by any other small American 
city. 

It is quite natural that the people of New London 
should turn their attention at this time to the planning 
of a more adequate and comprehensive park system. 
The city is growing in population, its standards of public 
improvements are steadily rising, it is getting a fresh 
hold on business and commerce, it is becoming a more 
important educational centre through the establishment 
there of the Connecticut College for 'Women, and it is 
attracting each year a larger and larger stream of desir- 
able tourists. Every one of these forms of growth and 
development calls for a more complete system of open 
spaces, and every one is favorably affected by the timely 
selection and development of the parks and playgrounds 
now under consideration. 

Parks are no longer considered a luxury by growing 
American cities. They are classed with streets and 
sewers and schools as a necessity. They contribute di- 
rectly to health and efficiency, to pleasure and economic 
wealth. Moreover, they stir and nourish civic pride. 

There are at least four reasons why New London should 
now act in a large way in acquiring and improving land 
for use as parks and playgrounds. (1) Property is 
steadily increasing in value. It is not likely to be cheaper 
than it is now. ( c 2) Once bought, park lands increase 
in value. All other public works depreciate. Parks 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

appreciate. (3) Parks pay for themselves, or more than 
pay for themselves, by making new real estate values. 
Some examples in support of this statement are given in 
the Appendix. (4) A sound park policy vigorously pushed 
by public authority, soon brings rich gifts from private 
individuals. The history of American city parks fur- 
nishes much evidence in support of this tendency. Cities 
that own few parks seldom receive gifts of parks. On 
the other hand, cities like Hartford, Conn., that have a 
long and honorable record in public park-making, have an 
equally long and honorable record of private gifts for 
parks. 

In considering the justification of important additions 
to its holdings for parks and playgrounds, New London 
would find profit in reviewing the experience of other 
cities. No better example could be given than that of 
Hartford. It now has more than twelve hundred acres 
of carefully developed public play and pleasure grounds, 
at least one acre to every seventy-three of its population. 
The Hartford Park Department has been persistently and 
systematically at work for over fifty years, planning, 
acquiring, constructing, planting, and maintaining parks, 
and the steady growth and high reputation of the city 
have been due in no small part to the work of this vigor- 
ous city department. Hartford does not stand alone as 
an example. Limiting the selections to cities the size 
of New London, one may with pride direct attention to 
Colorado Springs, San Diego, La Crosse, Elgin, Salem, 
Mass., Nashua, Cedar Rapids, la., Quincy, 111., Waltham, 
and Madison. In all of these cities, there has been not- 
able park-making, for in all of them there is an average 
of one acre or more of parks to every two hundred of the 
population. 

The extension of the park and playground system of a 



NEED OF PARKS FOR NEW LONDON 

city does not ordinarily proceed regularly year by year, 
as the extension of the street system or sewer system 
or school system does. So far as land takings go, it is 
much more apt to move periodically. There are years 
in which the park area of a city may be multiplied many 
times. Such years may be followed by long periods in 
which the park department is occupied mainly with the 
development of the newly acquired property. This 
method has proved sound in practice. In the first place, 
it is more economical, as a rule, to acquire at one time all 
the property that is needed in any particular neighbor- 
hood. Secondly, the people of a city are more likely to 
approve of important park additions if the different 
neighborhoods are fairly represented in the proposed 
takings. And, finally, as park lands and permanent 
construction are an investment of city funds which give 
increasing returns to future generations, they are usually 
provided for by bond issues, and the question of bond 
issues, especially if it requires a popular vote, cannot 
readily be taken up every year. Therefore, it is con- 
sidered good policy and, in the long run, economical to 
map out periodically, say every ten or twenty years, ac- 
cording to growth, somewhat large general additions to 
the existing parks, endeavoring always to convert de- 
tached properties into organic parts of a unified system. 

There are a few principles in the selection of lands for 
parks, parkways, and playgrounds which are finding 
increasing acceptance by city authorities. Briefly stated, 
they are as follows: (1) to acquire those easily accessible 
small tracts in different parts of a city which may most 
cheaply be adapted to serve as local playgrounds or rec- 
reation centres; (2) to seek also some moderately large 
tracts, even though less accessible for the present genera- 
tion, provided they are capable of conversion at rela- 

[4] 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

tively small cost into parks which will have the beauty 
of natural scenery; (3) to acquire property for large 
parks in advance of a general settlement of the neighbor- 
hood; (4) to select generally, though not always, lands 
which are not well adapted for streets and buildings; 
(5) to distribute the lands over the city in such a way as 
to give the maximum of use to the people who will be 
called upon to pay for their acquisition, development, 
and maintenance. 

These five common-sense principles have been ap- 
proved and followed by the leading landscape architects. 
They have been kept constantly in mind in making up 
the list of park properties for New London, in fixing 
their approximate boundaries, and in drawing up the 
recommendations which are embodied in the Report and 
Plans herewith submitted for consideration. 



[5] 



II. Park anb paggnmnb Propfrtt^a 

The following is a list of the existing and proposed 
park or playground properties, all of which are shown on 
the accompanying map. The names, of course, are 
subject to change. For the sake of convenience the 
following classification has been adopted, although these 
divisions are not in all cases mutually exclusive. There 
is inevitably some overlapping. 

A. City Squares and Small Open Spaces. 

B. School Grounds. 

C. Playgrounds and Athletic Fields. 

D. Neighborhood Parks. 

E. Large Outlying Reservations. 

F. The Inner and Outer Parkway System. 

A. CITY SQUARES AND SMALL OPEN SPACES 

1. Railroad Station Plaza 

The small Plaza in front of the Railroad Station is at 
present inconvenient in arrangement and unsatisfac- 
tory in appearance. The need, it seems to me, is not 
to add anything to the Plaza merely for the sake of 
adorning it, but to rearrange the space for use, so as 
to make it more serviceable, more orderly, and more 
comfortable. Incidentally, its appearance would be 
improved. Following this point of view, I recommend 
(a) the removal of the parking, fencing, etc., in the 
middle of the Plaza and the substitution of a lamp 
with a small isle of safety around which traffic would 



LIST OF PROPERTIES 

naturally turn; (b) the removal of all poles and wires; 

(c) the rounding by easier curves of the street corners; 

(d) the slight widening of the sidewalks and the plant- 
ing of a few trees. 

2. Williams Park 

An attractive and useful existing city "square" with 
walks, grass, and trees, comprising about 23^ acres. 
No change is recommended. 

3. Williams Memorial Park 

An existing square of about 4 acres, located at Broad 
and Hempstead Streets. It is much used by the people 
of the neighborhood. It might be well to consider its 
improvement . 

4. Bank Street Triangles 

One of these triangles (corner Shaw and Bank Streets) 
has been acquired recently by the Park Board. The 
others are small pieces of land which have been left 
between street intersections as a result of cutting 
through Elm Street as a part of the Inner Park Drive. 
A plan showing the approximate location of these 
streets and triangles is submitted. It is important 
that they be secured for public use. 

5. The Old Mill 

The Old Mill building and the ground around it form 
a very picturesque and historic open place. The 
building dates back to 1650, and is now owned, I under- 
stand, by the city. The Mill and its environment are 
worthy of careful preservation. The improvement of 
Winthrop Cove, which adjoins the Mill, will be of great 
advantage. 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

6. The First Burial-ground 

A tract of about an acre and a half constitutes a dis- 
used burial-ground opposite the Bulkeley School. 
For the present nothing needs to be done with it 
except the planting of some good shade-trees at suit- 
able places. In the years to come it might be brought 
into use as a small open place in much the same way 
that old burial-grounds in London, England, are now 
used. 

7. Historical Museum Triangle 

The Triangle on Bank Street between Tilley and 
Brewer Streets, though small, is a very valuable public 
space. It affords an open foreground to the fine old 
Colonial building now used as an Historical Museum. 



B. SCHOOL GROUNDS 

8. The Harbor School 

No large use can be made of the grounds for play un- 
less they are developed and equipped with apparatus. 
Some planting could be done with advantage. A valu- 
able addition has recently been made to the north along 
Montauk Avenue. The grounds should be still further 
extended, so as to connect with the proposed Harbor 
School Park. 

9. Nameaug School 

The grounds here are too small for any extensive use. 
They would be improved by planting and made some- 
what more useful by installing simple apparatus. The 
building seems to be unfavorably situated for making 
the best use of the ground. It might be worth while 



PLAYGROUND 
NATHAN HALE GRAMMAR SCHOOL 

NEW LONDON CONN. 

JOHN NOLEN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT 
CAMBIUDCE MASS 




LINCOLN AVENUE 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

for the committee to consider the advantage of sell- 
ing the lot on the north side of the school property and 
using the money to purchase additional ground to the 
south. A lot in the rear should also be considered. It 
would probably be inexpensive. 

10. Salton stall School 

The grounds are too limited for any playground use 
other than recess. To serve better this purpose, they 
might be developed and equipped with apparatus. 
Planting would improve their appearance. Perhaps 
a third of an acre on the west side along Truman 
Street could be added with advantage and at little 
cost. 

11. Bulkeley School 

This is the boys' high school. It offers no opportunity 
for play purposes. Planting is recommended. Plans 
would have to be prepared. 

12. "Williams Memorial Institute 

This is the girls' high school. The grounds are of 
considerable extent, but unsuitable for use for recrea- 
tion on account of topography and steep grades. Part 
of the land might make a desirable site for another 
school building in the future. Planting is recom- 
mended. 

13. Nathan Hale Grammar School 

The size of the lot here is sufficient for use as a local 
playground. I recommend that it be graded and de- 
veloped, providing a baseball diamond, tennis courts, 
etc. A tentative plan to illustrate my recommenda- 

f 111 



LIST OF PROPERTIES 

tions is submitted. The plan is only tentative, and is 
not submitted as a working or construction plan. 

14. Manual Training School 

The grounds of this school are too limited for utiliza- 
tion as a playground. There appears to be no con- 
venient or inexpensive method of extending them. 

15. Robert Bartlett School 

The land in connection with this school is sufficient for 
the needs of small children. It requires grading, de- 
velopment, and some simple apparatus. The base- 
ball diamond for the use of small boys could be re- 
located with advantage. 

16. Winthrop School 

The grounds of this school, as with most of the others, 
are too small except for recess use. They could be 
made more serviceable by slight equipment and more 
attractive by some hardy planting. 

C. PLAYGROUNDS AND ATHLETIC FIELDS 

17. Williams Street Playground 

Six acres of low level land between Bayonet and Will- 
iams Street, adjoining the proposed Inner Park Boule- 
vard and the College for Women. This tract can prob- 
ably be acquired at small cost. 

18. Bank Street Playground 

This area comprises 10 acres of low land at the south- 
east corner of the proposed Large Natural Park Reser- 
vation, not far from Bank Street. It would be a 

[12] 



LIST OF PROPERTIES 

valuable tract to reserve for future playground devel- 
opment. No immediate action appears necessary. 

19. Willet's Avenue Playground 

About 10 acres in the low level land next to the park- 
way in Waterford, between the New York, New Haven, 
& Hartford Railroad and Willet's Avenue, — a valu- 
able reservation for a general playground for future 
development. 

20. Elm Street Playground 

This area is bounded by Jefferson Avenue, Garfield 
Avenue, McDonald Street, and Connecticut Avenue. 
As outlined above, it would include approximately 6 
acres suitable for general playground purposes. The 
fact that the Inner Parkway passes through this tract 
would not necessarily be objectionable, as the two 
parts would have separate use and development. 

21. Thames Street Playground 

General playground, size about 8 acres. Located at 
the south-east corner of Thames Street and Ocean 
Avenue. While this property might be high in first 
cost, it should be kept in mind that it is admirably 
adapted for its purpose and well located. 

22. Athletic Field 

Area bounded by Connecticut and Cedar Grove Ave- 
nues and Ledyard and Broad Streets, with the ex- 
ception of the house lots fronting on Connecticut 
Avenue. It comprises about 6 acres. A preliminary 
design is submitted as an illustration of the use that 
could be made of this property for games and other 

r 14 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

athletic purposes. This plan illustrates also the kind of 
use that could be made of other properties here rec- 
ommended for acquisition, even though their develop- 
ment might not be undertaken immediately. I rec- 
ommend that this property be acquired early, and that 
full working plans (grading, construction, and planting) 
be prepared by a landscape architect. 



D. NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS 

23. Riverside Park 

One of the main features of the existing park system, 
with 35 or 40 acres occupying a partially wooded slope 
down to the Thames River. The park is well located. 
Its size, however, could be considerably increased with 
advantage, as shown on the plan. At present it is cut 
up by too many roads and it lacks recreation facilities. 
The new approach provided by the proposed Inner 
Parkway would be a great improvement. I recom- 
mend, as one of the first actions of the Park Board, the 
preparation of definite plans for the extension and devel- 
opment of Riverside Park. It is already too good not 
to be made better. Now appears to be the time for 
action, as this neighborhood will build up rapidly with 
the opening of the College for Women. 

24. Ocean Beach Park 

An existing shore reservation of inestimable value for 
wholesome and delightful recreation. The city already 
owns about 2,000 feet of ocean beach at this point. 
It is recommended that it be extended to the west, as 
indicated on the General Plan, so as to include a beach 
with a total length of at least 3,600 feet, a wide strip 

[151 










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LIST OF PROPERTIES 

inland, and the little islands known as Shore Rock and 
Cormorant Rock. Here, again, there is opportunity 
and need for early action on the part of the city. Ocean 
Beach is New London's most distinctive park feature, 
and it should be enlarged so as to serve the steadily 
increasing demands made upon it. There is no doubt 
of its popularity nor of its appreciation by the people. 
New public bath-houses, more like those at Beverly 
Farms, are likewise needed. 

25. Shaw Cove 

The conditions now obtaining in the vicinity of Shaw 
Cove make it very desirable to turn its low shores 
and mud flats into a neighborhood park and recreation 
centre. The taking should include the entire shore 
line and also suitable entrances from near-by streets. 
As a suggestion for the development of this area, it 
is proposed that south of Hamilton Street shall be 
the Children's Playground. The cove should be filled 
in, leaving a wading pool in the centre only, with boys' 
and girls' apparatus, enclosed space with sand-courts, 
etc., for small children, and a ball-field for boys. In 
the larger section north of Hamilton Street the cove 
should be reduced in size and regraded, so that no flats 
will be exposed. The tidal wash and water from the 
small brook should then keep the basin clean. Small 
boats will have access to this pool from the outer cove, 
and may be given anchorage, as at present. Ulti- 
mately, it should prove desirable to establish a public 
landing and moorings with a boat-house on the bank. 
Shrubs and trees should be used, partly hiding the sur- 
rounding dwellings and furnishing shade on the knoll 
on the west side with its pleasant views over the park. 
More active recreation should be provided for by a ball- 

[ 18 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

field, playfield for girls, and tennis courts. It may be 
feasible to keep out the tide in winter for skating. No 
roads are proposed for the park, as they would be of no 
great service, would take up much room, be expensive 
to maintain, and provide no new frontages to lots of 
adequate depth. To further improve conditions in 
this region, it would be well to widen and improve the 
grade of Shaw Street, so that it might become an im- 
portant tributary to Pequot Avenue. Howard Street 
should be changed, so as to make a safer and more con- 
venient connection with Pequot Avenue. A general 
plan and two sketches are submitted to illustrate the 
improvements recommended in this neighborhood. 
The area obtained for public use would be about 15 
acres. Prompt action here is imperative on the ground 
of health and sanitation as well as public recreation. 

26. Winthrop Cove 

The improvements recommended for Winthrop Cove 
are much along the same lines as those for Shaw 
Cove. The opportunity, however, is not so great, the 
amount of land available, about 5 acres, being more 
limited. Nevertheless, the changes would bring about 
a veritable transformation in one of the most unsightly 
and conspicuous sections of the city, and provide a 
recreation centre and small neighborhood park where 
one is much needed. A general plan and two sketches 
are submitted. South of the railroad bridge there is 
an opportunity for important commercial development. 

27. Harbor School Park 

There is an open strip of land about 300 feet wide, 
just north of the Harbor Public School, extending from 
the Lawrence Hospital to the shore. In my opinion, 

[19 1 




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LIST OF PROPERTIES 

it is very important that this should be acquired by 
the city and kept open forever. In the first place, 
it would preserve a desirable open space from the 
Hospital to the water front; secondly, it would pro- 
vide a small park in this neighborhood as an adjunct 
of the public school and for general local use; and, 
finally, it is one of the best opportunities to obtain a 
small stretch of pleasant beach for public use. I be- 
lieve this property is now owned by the Lawrence Hos- 
pital Trustees. If so, some joint action ought to be 
taken soon, providing for the future development of 
this property in the interests of the Hospital and the 
city. 

E. LARGE OUTLYING RESERVATIONS 

28. Mamacoke Hill 

This hill, 100 feet in height, has a fine command- 
ing position in the Thames River and is almost 
entirely surrounded by water. Virtually, it is an 
island, connected with the mainland only by a neck 
of salt marsh. It is an ideal spot for picnicing. On 
the General Plan I have indicated a taking of ap- 
proximately 80 acres. This could be increased or 
diminished according to cost and other controlling 
conditions. In any case the reservation ought to 
include the wooded slope across the railroad and a 
connection with the interurban car line and the Inner 
and Outer Parkway Systems. While action is not 
urgent, this splendid hill should ultimately come into 
the possession of the city or some other public body. 

29. Natural Park Reservation 

The large undeveloped territory to the west of the city 
offers a most remarkable opportunity for a large out- 

[ 9& 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

lying woodland reservation. This property is exceed- 
ingly varied in character and topography, and is now 
practically unspoiled. It appears now not to have 
any large value for city or suburban residential devel- 
opment. Yet it is admirably located for convenient 
connection with the Outer Parkway System. The 
extent of territory that should be included in this res- 
ervation will depend largely upon its cost and the ease 
with which it could be obtained. I should recommend 
that an effort be made to secure a tract of at least 300 
acres.* It seems to me beyond question the best 
situation for a really large park for New London. 

F. INNER AND OUTER PARKWAY SYSTEM 
30. Inner Parkway System 

The system here proposed for Inner Parkways would 
include the following, as shown on the General Plan: — 

Mamacoke Hill 
Mohegan Avenue 
Williams Street 
Ledyard Street 
Elm Street 
Ocean Avenue 

This Inner Parkway System would have a length of 
about 6 miles and an average width of at least 80 feet. 
In some places it could be 104 feet wide. In both cases 
building restrictions should be adopted to prevent the 
erection of buildings within 25 feet (or thereabouts) 
of the street line. The proposed treatment is shown 
in Parkways Sections No. I and No. II herewith sub- 
mitted. 

* Part of this tract, about 90 acres of Bates Woods, has been secured since this 
Report was prepared. 

[23 1 



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PROPOSED PARKWAY SECTIONS 

FOR 

NEW LONDON CONN 



SCALE. I' -2.0* 
JOHN NOLEN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT 
CAMBRIDGE MASS 



1912 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

31. Outer Parkway System 

The system here proposed for Outer Parkways would 
include the following as shown on the General Plan : — 

Mamacoke Hill 

Williams Street 

Gallows Lane 

Bayonet Street 

Chapman Street 

Lake Brandegee 

Phillips Street 

Jefferson Avenue 

and the Parkway 

to Ocean Beach 
The total length of this Outer Parkway System would 
be 8 miles or more, and the width of the parkway itself 
should average at least 150 feet. In some locations it 
could easily exceed that width. Restrictions as to 
building should be passed by the City Council as rec- 
ommended for the Inner Parkway System. A single 
illustration of the proposed treatment is shown in 
Parkway Section No. Ill herewith submitted. 

Taken together, these small open spaces, playgrounds, 
parks, and parkway systems comprise a fairly complete 
provision of public grounds for the needs of the city of 
New London to-day and a reasonable anticipation of the 
requirements of the immediate future, so far as they can 
now be foreseen. The recommendations of various park 
and playground properties are respectfully submitted for 
the consideration of the Municipal Art Society and the 
Board of Park Commissioners.* Further mention need 

* Under an Act of the Connecticut Legislature, approved August 23, 1911, 
the Board of Park Commissioners of the City of New London has ample power 
to acquire, develop, and maintain parks, parkways, and playgrounds. The 
Board also has authority, under the same Act, to issue park bonds to an amount 
not exceeding the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. 

[25 1 



LIST OF PROPERTIES 

be made only of two points more or less directly related 
to park development. (1) Fort Trumbull, now owned by 
the Federal Government, may some time become inactive. 
If it does, it should pass into the hands of the New Lon- 
don Park Department and be used as Fort Independence 
is used in Boston. (2) The strip of land to the east and 
south of Pequot Avenue, extending to the water's edge, 
should become public property or in some way come 
under public control. At present there is no building 
of importance between Pequot Avenue and the Sound, 
and the view from the road is one of surpassing beauty, — 
beautiful residences on one side and an unbroken view 
of the sea on the other. Few American cities have any- 
thing so fine. While this Report is not directly concerned 
with street changes, mention, perhaps, should also be 
made of the desirability of extending Washington Street 
from Reed to Coit, thus affording a better connection 
from the Pequot Avenue section to the heart of the city. 

All of the grounds referred to above have been indicated 
on the accompanying general map. No lengthy descrip- 
tions of location, etc., therefore, are necessary. On 
account of the lack of a more satisfactory survey, one 
giving the topography at a suitable scale, and of property 
values, it is possible to show only approximate boun- 
daries for the proposed playgrounds, parks, and other 
open spaces recommended. The General Plan is based 
upon an enlargement of a survey by the United States 
Government. However, I believe that the boundaries 
are indicated with sufficient accuracy for present pur- 
poses. The need now is to obtain action only on the 
general features which the plan presents. Later on, 
when the approval of the Park Board is obtained, it will 
be necessary to take up definite planning in greater detail. 

In conclusion, may I call attention again to the oppor- 

[26 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

tunity of the school authorities to develop and improve 
the various school properties, adding thereto and equip- 
ping a suitable Athletic Field, as suggested under para- 
graph 22. The program mapped out for the Park 
Board is naturally much larger. Action would appear 
to be called for first in connection with the proposed 
extensions of Riverside Park and Ocean Beach and 
the acquisition of Shaw and Winthrop Coves, the so- 
called Harbor School Park in front of the Lawrence Hos- 
pital, and the wild tract referred to on the plan as the 
Large Natural Park Reservation. When the general 
recommendations for these properties are approved, more 
detailed plans should be made for the takings, the land 
should be acquired, and then design, construction, and 
planting plans should be prepared by the landscape 
architect for the improvement of each park. 

It will take years to execute the park and playground 
system as outlined for New London. That, I believe, is 
clearly understood by the Municipal Art Society and 
the Park Board. One advantage of the General Plan, 
however, is that it shows the relation of each part to 
the whole and enables the members of the Park Board 
and the city authorities to keep the final system con- 
stantly in mind. It will help the city to avoid mis- 
takes and make many economies possible. 

There is a new spirit in New London. It has already 
expressed itself in a phenomenal improvement of roads 
and sidewalks, in the founding at New London of the 
Connecticut College for Women, and in the plans now 
under way for large commercial and business development 
of the city. To these great enterprises there will be 
added, unless all signs fail, a park and playground system 
which promises to be as good as that of any other city 
in the class of New London. 

[27 1 



SOME EXAMPLES OF THE INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC 
PARKS IN INCREASING CITY LAND VALUES 

One of the arguments for public parks, which has influenced real 
estate owners and tax-payers generally, is the direct effect of park 
acquisitions upon the value of city property and their indirect in- 
fluence upon the city's income from the taxation of land. Some 
examples of results are given below. 



Madison, Wis. (1) 

While the members of the committee are unable by any 
mathematical modes of calculation to reach definite figures 
representing the weight or effect of the influences produced 
by the establishment of parks, drives, etc., the general con- 
siderations partly indicated in the foregoing statements have 
caused us to conclude, and we accordingly report, that, in our 
judgment, from ten to fifteen per cent, of the increase in the 
value of taxable property in the city of Madison during the 
period mentioned is attributable to the establishment of parks, 
drives, playgrounds, and open places in and about the city of 
Madison, by and through the activities of the city, its citizens, 
and the Park and Pleasure Drive Association. 

(From Report of Citizens' Committee appointed to in- 
vestigate and report upon the amount of increase in the 
assessed value of property due to parks, 1909.) 



Madison (2) 

On the basis of the very conservative report of the Citizens' 
Committee, the parks, instead of being a burden upon the tax- 
payers of the city, are meeting all the expenses of their main- 
tenance and all interest charges on the investment, and in 
addition are paying into the city treasury at least $10,000 to be 
expended by the city for other municipal purposes. It would 
seem as though such facts as these should put a stop to any 
criticism that the park work is placing an undue burden upon 
the community, or indeed any burden at all. 

If the comparison be confined to real estate values alone, 
the result is as follows: — 

[28 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

True value of real estate in 1900 $17,930,370 

True value of real estate in 1908 34,314,259 

Increase during the period of $16,383,889 

Or an average annual increase of $2,047,986 

Of this amount, 12,^2% is due to park work, or ... . 255,998 

That is, during this period there has been added each 
year to the wealth of the real estate by virtue of the 
park work the sum of 255,998 

The above comparisons are based on the true or actual 
values of property within the city. Taking the assessed values, 
the results shown by this report are equally interesting. Con- 
fining the comparisons to real estate, it is seen that the as- 
sessed value in 1901 was $15,201,182, which rose in 1908 to 
$21,738,975, making an average annual increase for the seven 
years covering this period, in the assessed value of the real 
estate of the city, of $933,970. On the basis that 12^ per 
cent, of this increase is due to the park work, there has been 
added each year during this period to the assessed value of 
the real estate by reason of the park work $116,746.25. 

Another interesting fact brought out by this report is that 
the average annual increase in the assessed value of real estate 
in the city from 1893 to 1900 was only $314,772, while the 
average annual increase from 1901 to 1908 is $933,970. It 
may be said that this comparison is unfair because, in 1901, 
the first attempt was made to assess real estate at figures more 
nearly approaching its true value. But this objection is met 
by the fact that in the comparison for the later period the in- 
creased assessment of $15,201,182 (which includes the new 
tenth ward) is taken as the starting point, and the assessments 
made for the first period, 1893 to 1900, are all doubled. Hence, 
the figures demonstrate that since 1901 the average annual 
increase in the assessed value of real estate has been substan- 
tially three times the average annual increase for the period 
from 1893 to 1900. 

Now, it is an interesting fact that the park work within the 
city started in the spring of 1899, by the securing of what now 
constitutes a part of Tenney Park. It was two years, however, 
before this land was filled ready for planting. Then followed 
the Yahara River Improvement in 1903, and the Henry Vilas 
Park and Brittingham Park Improvements in 1905, and the 
work on these different improvements has not yet been com- 
pleted, although pushed as rapidly as possible. The point here 

[29 1 



PARKS INCREASE LAND VALUES 

made is that the very rapid increase in the values of real estate is 
coincident with the period of park development; and the most 
marked increase has been in the districts where the parks are lo- 
cated. As well stated in the report: "The committee has 
been unable to obtain data affording accurate or definite in- 
dications of the actual increase in realty values in the terri- 
tory adjacent to the parks and other improvements referred to; 
but there is abundant general information indicating that 
actual values have increased very rapidly in such districts after 
the establishment of the parks or other improvements, begin- 
ning as soon as the plan for making the improvement has be- 
come known to the public. Rarely has such increase been less 
than 100 per cent, within three or four years from its beginning, 
where the improvement is of any considerable importance, and 
in some cases the gain has been several hundred per cent." 

(Report of the Directors of the Madison Park and Pleasure 
Drive Association, 1909.) 

Boston 

In 1849 a Land Commission was appointed to deal with the 
subject of creating new land out of the Back Bay mud flats, 
Boston. Comprehensive plans were reported in 1852, but the 
work of filling the land was not begun until 1857. The Com- 
monwealth had the right to the flats below the line of riparian 
ownership. The plan of the Back Bay Improvement was the 
work of the late Arthur Oilman, an eminent architect. 

In 1857 the Commonwealth owned on the Back Bay 4,723,998 
feet, and the net profits on the sale of this land up to 1882 were 
$3,068,636.28, with 102,593 feet remaining unsold, valued at 
not less than $250,000. The net profit of the Land Company 
amounted to over $2,000 000. 

The Back Bay to-day is characterized by broad, handsome 
streets and the magnificence of architecture both in its public 
buildings and private dwellings. Commonwealth Avenue, 
the principal street, is 200 feet wide with broad green mall in 
the centre, and the distance from house to house across the 
street is 240 feet. The Back Bay is one of the most valuable 
parts of the city, the real estate assessment being now about 
$100,000,000. 

One mistake was the short-sighted policy which permitted 
the building over of the territory between Beacon Street and 
the Charles River, as that street might have been placed on the 
line of a beautiful embankment. Three times a proposition 

[301 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

was made to give to the city 500,000 feet of land between 
Beacon Street and the river on condition that it fill the land, 
never allow it to be built on, and add the territory to the Public 
Garden, which itself had been secured by filling. Unfortu- 
nately, the value of the river front for park and other purposes 
was not appreciated at that time, and the proposition was 
repeatedly rejected. 

In the case of "The Fens" in Boston, the park cost about 
$4,300 an acre. The land surrounding this park, though much 
of it is still vacant, is worth now on an average of $86,000 an 
acre. 

Cambridge, Mass. 

The increase in real estate values in the immediate neighbor- 
hood of Cambridge Field is a matter of interest. When this 
Board, in 1893, recommended that this field be taken for park 
purposes, one of the reasons advanced was that in future years 
this enterprise would be justified by the enhanced value of the 
remaining property. At the time this recommendation was 
made, there was little or no movement in real estate values in 
this neighborhood. The field was taken, and within certain 
limits it is fair to claim that the increased values since then 
have been due to park influences. To ascertain what this 
increase has been and will be each year, a certain territory has 
been marked out and the assessors' valuations taken. In 
marking out this territory, a very conservative claim has been 
made, and it is believed that within these lines it will be gen- 
erally agreed that the increased values of the last three years 
may justly be said to be due to park influences. 

The territory so considered is shown upon the accompany- 
ing plan, and is bounded as follows: Beginning at the railroad 
crossing, the front lots on the northerly side of Cambridge 
Street are included to Willow Street. The distillery property 
is not included. At Willow Street the line crosses to the 
southerly side of Cambridge Street, and continues to Winsor 
Street, thence along the easterly side of Winsor Street to Hamp- 
shire Street to Bristol Street, thence along the northerly and 
northeasterly side of Bristol Street, across Portland Street 
nearly to the ward boundary line, and then including the front 
lots on Portland Street (which extend nearly to the ward 
boundary from Portland Street), to Cambridge Street at the 
point of beginning. 

Within these limits the area of taxable land in 1893 was 

[311 



PARKS INCREASE LAND VALUES 

1,847,161 square feet. In 1896 the assessors taxed but 1,353,649 
square feet, the remaining 493,512 square feet having been 
taken from the taxable lists for the park and new streets. 
With the park uncompleted on the first day of May, 1896, it 
would probably have met the expectations of the most confi- 
dent, if it could have been shown that at that early date in 
park development the city treasury had suffered no loss in 
the total amount of taxes collected from the realty in the terri- 
tory under consideration. The result, however, is much better, 
for this territory in 1896 showed a valuation of $156,200 more 
than it did in 1893, as follows: 



Square Feet 
Taxed 


Value of 
Land 


Value of 
Buildings 


Total 
Value 


1,353,649 
1,847,161 


$442,000 
403,100 


$650,300 
533,000 


$1,092,300 
936,100 



1896 

1893 

"$38,900 $117,300 $156,200 

In other words, this territory, at the end of three years, after 
being reduced 26 per cent, in taxable area, on a tax rate of 
$15.10 on $1,000, showed an increased yearly earning for the 
city treasury of $2,358.62. 

This creation of $156,200, due to park influences, was, on 
the first day of May, more than the park had then cost. The 
total cost of Cambridge Field to December 1, 1896, is $194,733. 
But since the assessors' valuations on May 1, there has been 
an increase in this territory in new buildings to an approximate 
amount of $100,000, which will appear in next year's valua- 
tions. Cambridge Field has cost, to the present time, includ- 
ing all expenses of land, filling, surfacing, building the Shelter, 
etc., 35 cents per square foot. There is no land fronting on 
any of the four sides of Cambridge Field which can now be 
bought for less than 35 cents. 

It is proposed to make in the annual report each year in 
the future a statement of the changes in values in this terri- 
tory.* On a cost of $194,733 for the completed park, the annual 
expense to the municipal treasury (estimating 6 per cent, for 
interest and sinking fund requirements) will be $11,683.98. 
It is believed that within a very few years the amount which 
this territory will pay into the city treasury in taxes in excess 
of the amount paid in 1893 will more than balance the annual 
cost of the park, although this means that every dollar invested 
in the park must create nearly four dollars outside. 

(Report of Cambridge Park Department, 1896.) 

*In 1897 the value of land increased to $475,400; buildings, to $1,051,800; 
total value, $1,527,200, a gain over 1896 of $435,200. 

[32 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

Hartford, Conn. (1) 

Parks also contribute materially to a city's property values, 
and prevent real estate in their neighborhood from deteriorat- 
ing. No exact statement of this return can be made in figures, 
but a careful examination shows that the parks constructed 
during the last ten (10) years have increased the Grand List 
by a sum equal to that expended by the city in their purchase 
and development and have gone far toward making up that 
which has been taken from the Tax List. This increase will 
continue for years. The estimate which real estate dealers 
have made of the value of the city's Park System, as an asset, 
exclusive of Keney Park, is about two and one-half millions of 
dollars. That of the four (4) large parks constructed during 
the past ten (10) years, Riverside, Goodwin, Pope, and Eliza- 
beth, aggregated $800,000. In securing these, the city issued 
bonds to the amount of $300,000, which represents the cost 
to the city, and about $230,000 worth of property has been 
received by gift. The true value of a park system in municipal 
development cannot be computed, however, except after the 
lapse of a longer period of time, as the history of Bushnell Park 
shows. Such connecting parkways as have been projected 
would add vastly to the park system, and the more practical 
objects of its usefulness can only be secured by the layout of 
small areas easily accessible for playgrounds in the densely 
populated sections of the city. 

(Hartford Park Commission.) 

Hartford (2) 

Keney Park has been entirely constructed and maintained 
from funds of the estate of Henry Keney under the direction 
of the Keney Park Trustees. It consists of over six hundred 
acres, and is developed as a country park. At the time the 
lands were purchased, sixteen years ago, their value was from 
$25 to $400 per acre. The abutting property was of a some- 
what higher value, as much of Keney Park was interior land. 
If the influence of Keney Park is considered to exist only one 
thousand feet from its borders, then the value of the lands abut- 
ting it is probably four times the value they were sixteen years 
ago, and with the buildings erected has at a low value probably 
four million dollars' increase. 

The maintenance of Keney Park, when turned over to the 
city, is supposed to be about $12,000 (under present prices) 
per year, and if my estimate is correct, that there should be 

133 1 



PARKS INCREASE LAND VALUES 

$50,000 increase of value to each $1,000 cost in maintenance, 
then the increased valuation on account of Keney Park should 
be $600,000, but the increased valuation as estimated by me 
is four million dollars, and the lands about Keney Park are not 
more than twenty per cent, developed, so that it is easily seen, 
under those conditions, that Keney Park will bring into the 
city treasury much more money than it has taken out, and 
that it has already brought into the treasury during the six- 
teen years of its construction a large sum of money from in- 
creased taxes, and has not as yet taken one dollar from it. 

For several years I have given this subject considerable 
thought and study, and my conclusion is that when parks are 
properly located as to the city's area and population, and are so 
constructed and maintained as to meet the needs of the people 
they are to serve, also made beautiful, attractive, and suitable 
for the work they are to do, they will bring more money into the 
city treasury than they take out, the amount depending upon 
how well they are balanced with the needs of the people. 

(G. A. Parker, Park Superintendent, Hartford.) 



New York City 

The amount collected [in taxes] in twenty-five years on the 
property of the three wards [the wards contiguous to Central 
Park], over and above the ordinary increase in the tax value of 
the real estate in the rest of the city, was $65,000,000, or about 
$21,000,000 more than the aggregate expense attending and 
following the establishment of the park up to the present year. 
Regarding the whole transaction in the light of a real estate 
speculation alone, the city has $21,000,000 in cash over and 
above the outlay, and acquired in addition thereto land valued 
at $200,000,000. 

(Report New York Park Association, 1892.) 



Harrisburg, Pa. 

It can hardly be surprising that the whole face of the city of 
Harrisburg has been changed by this movement for improve- 
ment. When the cost of it is inquired into, a marvel appears; 
for while the most favorable construction placed upon the cost 
proposed, in 1906, an increase in the city taxes of two mills, the 
effect of the improvement feeling in increasing enterprise, the 
further effect of a better adjusted valuation, and the city's 

[34 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

advances along all lines enabled the city authorities to keep 
house properly with an increase of but one-half mill in the tax 
rate for 1906. That is, the increased cost has been barely 
one-fourth that proposed under the most favorable conditions 
at the time the movement was projected. For 1907, the tax 
rate has been fixed at a rate one-half mill less than the 1902 
promise. 

In 1906 the Harrisburg Park Commission purchased of Mr. 
E. B. Mitchell certain lands to extend its Reservoir Park in 
Harrisburg. The whole tract, including, I think, some twelve 
or thirteen acres, was offered to the city at $1,000 an acre. 
Only a portion of the offer was accepted, and the owner, Mr. 
Mitchell, was very much provoked at the declination to buy 
all of his land at $1,000 an acre. A little more than two years 
later — the park in the mean time having been extended and 
opened — I had a desire to live close to one of its entrances, and 
in that portion of the Mitchell tract which was not accepted 
from him when offered at $1,000 an acre. I went to Mr. 
Mitchell, and asked his price on an acre or a half-acre. He 
declined to talk with me at all on the acre basis, and finally 
and rather grudgingly offered to sell me a half-acre at $6,250. 
I declined to buy, but he eventually sold not only that tract, 
but all the rest of it, at a rate equal to or exceeding the price 
asked me. 

This is one instance. Another is close by. The same park 
has so changed valuations in its vicinity that the price estab- 
lished some six or seven years ago of $400 an acre for land a 
little farther away from the park has changed to between $2,500 
and $4,000 an acre for the same and neighboring land. 

While I do not have on the instant other items, I can say to 
you that a rather extended and close observation of these 
matters, proceeding over some ten years, has convinced me 
that in no case have adequate park extensions failed to largely 
increase real estate values in the vicinity. 

(J. Horace McFarland, Park Commissioner.) 

Brookline, Mass. 
Recurring now to an illustration of municipal development 
on broad lines as a remunerative investment for the town, the 
Beacon Parkway will be cited. Beacon Street from opposite 
the State House in Boston extends in a westerly direction about 
ten miles to Newton Lower Falls. About two and one-half 

[35 1 



PARKS INCREASE LAND VALUES 

miles from the State House it enters Brookline, and is about 
twelve thousand feet or a little more than two miles long in 
Brookline, as far as the Brighton line. Beacon Street was 
originally laid out through Brookline fifty feet in width and in 
two sections, — the western half, west of Washington Street, 
in 1850, the eastern half, east of Washington Street, in 1851. 
The original laying out of Beacon Street appears to have been 
harder to secure than its conversion into a parkway in 1886-87. 
The promoters of this latter project were promptly supported 
by the selectmen and citizens. The benefit to accrue to the 
town was instantly seen; what the promoters might gain was 
problematical. But the fitness of co-operation between public 
and private interests here received strong confirmation. One 
helped the other; each was dependent upon the other; the 
result was profitable to both. Beacon Street was widened into a 
parkway from 160 to 180 feet in width, with a reservation 
for street-car service near the centre, the entire cost being 
$615,000, of which the town paid $465,000. This was done, 
regardless of what the city of Boston might do at either end. 
The town would and did compel the city to follow its lead. In 
six years the increase in assessed values of land and buildings 
on each side of the Beacon Parkway throughout its entire 
length in Brookline, for an approximate distance of only 500 
feet from the side line on both sides of the street, is $4,330,400, 
with no allowance for any increase in personal estate incident 
thereto. At $11.80 on $1,000, the tax rate of 1892, Brookline 
received last year about $51,000 in the taxes on these two strips 
of land 500 feet wide only, and the annual revenue is increasing 
each year. The Beacon Parkway is therefore paying for 
itself long before the most zealous advocate of that measure 
supposed it would, and is a striking proof that well-considered 
plans for large public improvements of this kind are profitable 
public ventures. 

It is an interesting fact that the average rate of taxation in 
Brookline during the past ten years, the period of its most 
extraordinary growth and boldest improvements, is less than 
for the preceding ten years. The average rate from 1882 to 
1892 was $10.87 per $1,000. The average rate from 1872 to 
1882 was $12 01 per $1,000. The town debt has increased 
during the past ten years 43^ per cent.; while the town valua- 
tion in the same period has increased 113f per cent. Of 
course, with the town's growth, come added expenses and 
demands each year. But Brookline has recognized the fact 
'that the town will grow whether it is encouraged so to do or 

[36 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

not, and that, as between a large population ill prepared to 
meet modern municipal wants and a population and sur- 
roundings which are strong and attractive, the latter are pref- 
erable. To meet the growing demands of such a town, new 
capital must be brought in and such inducements offered as 
will attract and retain persons having capital. A higher rate 
of taxation and a less efficient government would follow a 
diminution of public income; hence the town aims to draw 
within its limits strong and active classes. 

(Brookline: A Study in Town Government. Alfred D. Chandler.) 

Kansas City, Mo. (1) 

Table showing typical increase of property values due to 
boulevard establishment : — 

ASSESSED LAND VALUATIONS— NORTH AND SOUTH PARK 
DISTRICTS. 

1910 North Park District $22,115,060 

1910 South Park District 9,168,070 

$31,283,130 

1898 North Park District $12,619,530 

1898 South Park District 6,801,470 

18,421,000 
Natural land gain in districts of 69.82% $12,862,130 

BENTON BOULEVARD ASSESSED LAND VALUATIONS. 

All in North and South Park Districts, Independence Avenue to Thirty- 
first Street. 

1910 $372,690 

1898 131,415 

Benton Boulevard land gain of 183.60% or $241,275 

Frontage Improvements. 
Cost $229,996.44, or 70% of $328,537, being 100% of $131,415, 1898 
assessed valuations. 

Recapitulation . 

Benton Boulevard land gain 183.60% 

Frontage improvement cost on 1898 land value 70% . . . 

Natural land gain in districts 69.82 139.82 y 

Net gain due to boulevard establishment 43.78% 

In consideration of the above table, it will be noted that the 
combined assessed valuations of the land in the North and 

[37 1 



PARKS INCREASE LAND VALUES 

South Park Districts for the year 1898 (before Benton Boule- 
vard from Independence Avenue to Thirty-first Street was 
completed) was $18,421,000. In the year 1910 the combined 
assessed land valuation in the North and South Park Districts 
was $31,283,130, or a natural gain of assessed land valuations 
in the period 1898 and 1910 amounting to $12,862,130, or 69.82 
per cent. 

In the year 1898 (before Benton Boulevard from Indepen- 
dence Avenue to Thirty -first Street was built) the land fronting 
on what is now Benton Boulevard from Independence Avenue 
to Thirty-first Street was assessed at $131,415. In the year 
1910 this same land frontage was assessed at $372,690, pro- 
ducing a gain of $241,275 assessed land value, or 183.62 per 
cent. 

In 1898 as well as in 1910 all land was assessed on the theory 
of 40 per cent, of its marketable value. This ratio would make 
1898 assessed valuation, as recited above, show a theoretical 
marketable value of $328,537 for land fronting on Benton 
Boulevard from Independence Avenue to Thirty-first Street. 
All frontage improvements of Benton Boulevard from Inde- 
pendence Avenue to Thirty-first Street amounted to $229,- 
996.44, or 70 per cent, of marketable value (based as above 
$328,537). 

The land fronting on Benton Boulevard from Independence 
Avenue to Thirty-first Street increased in value in the period 
1898 to 1910 183.62 per cent. Of this per cent, of boulevard 
land gain 70 per cent, is absorbed for frontage improvements 
and 69.82 per cent, for natural gain of all land through- 
out the North and South Districts from 1898 to 1910, thus 
leaving the land gain of Benton Boulevard frontage 43.78 
per cent, net in excess of the land in the North and South 
Park Districts not fronting on Boulevards. 

(Report of Park Commissioners of Kansas City, 1910.) 

Kansas City (2) 

Let us discuss the question, then, from a purely practical 
standpoint, a business point of view, if you please. I would 
add to the park reservations the boulevard and connecting 
parkway plan, affording fine pleasure driveways upon which 
desirable residential frontages may be obtained. If this plan 
is followed, and a comprehensive connected system of parks, 
parkways, and boulevards commensurate with the size, impor- 
tance, and civic spirit of your city be adopted (this work should 

r 38 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

be studied and recommended by a broad-minded, competent 
landscape architect), and the improvement work carried out 
with great care and attention to detail, / undertake to say that 
any wide-awake city can establish its park system without one 
cent of general indebtedness to the city. In other words, the 
enhancement in values of benefited lands will be more than 
sufficient to pay all the cost of the acquisition and improve- 
ment of the park system. This will impress you as possibly 
being a too optimistic view, yet in our own city it is a fact 
recognized and not disputed, with reference to boulevards and 
to a somewhat less degree with reference to parks and park- 
ways. 

That this general benefit is greater in actual enhancement 
of values of property than the cost of the Kansas City park 
system in its present stage of development is freely acknowl- 
edged, and the land owners of that city have now invested in 
the park system over eleven and one-half millions of dollars 
and are our stanch supporters for still more parks and boule- 
vards. In Kansas City, at least, the effect of park and boule- 
vard improvements has been the enhancement of land values 
far in excess of the whole cost of the acquisitions and improve- 
ments of their park system. 

(W. H. Dunn, Superintendent of Parks, Kansas City, 1912.) 



Influence of Parks and Playgrounds on Suburban De- 
velopment and Land Values from the Point of 
View of a Real Estate Operator (William E. Har- 
mon,* of Wood, Harmon & Co., Real Estate Agents 
and Operators). 

At one time, a few years since, my associates and I were 
seriously engaged in a consideration of the "ideal charity"; 
in other words, attempting to find a form of charitable or 
public service, in which a given sum of money could be utilized 
with the least possible waste, the greatest possible good, and 
which would leave a perpetual monument to the giver. We 
took up the various forms of philanthropic activity, — educa- 
tional, religious, care of children, care of the aged, and all 
others we could think of, — and finally, somewhat to our sur- 
prise, arrived at the conclusion that vacant land was the only 

* See "Lebanon Trust: An Experiment in Small Parks for Small Cities," 
in The Survey for March 1, 1913, as an additional illustration of the soundness 
of Mr. Harmon's point of view. 

[39 1 



PARKS INCREASE LAND VALUES 

gift free from the risk of the decay which assails material con- 
struction and of the mismanagement which menaces capital 
dedicated to charitable endeavor. This conception regarding 
vacant land shaped itself into the form of dedicated playgrounds 
or parks, close to big cities, which could forever be the recrea- 
tion place for the neighboring population. We began to realize 
we were cutting up lands upon which people would dwell for 
all ages to come; we were changing wholesale acres into a 
form from which they could be changed again only at great 
cost. At this point it would be the simplest thing in the 
world to set aside, if we were so charitably-minded, some of 
this land and leave it as a perpetual open space for generations 
to play upon. At that time no other aspect of the case sug- 
gested itself to us. It did not seem possible that such an 
immediate sacrifice to our future expectations would work 
any important benefit to our treasury balance; in other words, 
that it was not a business proposition, although it did look like 
the most justifiable sentimentalism. In this we were mistaken. 
There were infinite business possibilities in such an act of gen- 
erosity, and could we have seen ahead, as we can now look back, 
we ivould immediately hare begun the segregation of lands for park 
purposes in all our subdivisions, and would not only have served 
the community better, but would have received a return in dollars 
and cents sufficient to amply repay for every foot of ground so 
utilized. From a lack of courage we began reluctantly and 
niggardly to carry out this policy; therefore, our education has 
been slow, but we are at last convinced that upon every con- 
sideration of public and private policy intelligent land segre- 
gation pays the cost. 

Where these grounds are properly distributed and intelli- 
gently laid out, in almost every instance, it will be found that 
the land surrounding such spots can be marketed at a price 
sufficiently high to entirely offset the cost of the contribu- 
tion, which is the final test of the value of your enterprising 
beneficence. 

Having watched the gradual growth of scattered suburbs 
into densely populated city blocks, one cannot but wonder at 
the short-sighted policy of the average municipal engineering 
department. There is no intelligible reason why there is not 
incorporated into the official city map of every city a certain 
percentage of the area to be set aside for small parks and play- 
grounds, as a matter of public well-being, exactly as streets 
and alleys are so treated. If 5 per cent, of the area of the 
undeveloped land contiguous to large cities were properly 

[40 1 



PARK AND PLAYGROUND SYSTEM 

distributed in small park appropriations, one problem of con- 
gestion would be solved without any injustice to any one. 

In many cities in this country the Engineering Departments 
plot the whole area of the suburban sections in anticipation of 
future development, showing sewer and street elevations, 
street widths, etc. Park appropriations could be made a part 
of this planning, and would be accepted by developers without 
question. If short-sighted, they would not realize the value 
of such spaces in the sale of their land, but they could set then- 
prices so as to treat these parks the same as they consider the 
areas set aside for street purposes. In this way, cities could 
get all the park lands necessary without any cost whatever. 
This plan would apply only where the operator undertook the 
opening up and construction of streets on his own account. In 
case streets are opened and improved by the city, and lands 
contained therein condemned for street purposes, these parks 
could be included in the same condemnation proceedings, and 
the cost therefor assessed on the abutting property; so, that the 
city would be in exactly the same position with regard to the 
acquisition of parks as it now is with regard to the acquisition 
of streets. 



41 



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